ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Islet cell transplantation is an attractive alternative to whole organ pancreas transplantation, because it is clearly the safer and simpler surgical procedure for recipients. PURPOSE: The authors intended to examine the functional outcome of islet autografting and the factors related to islet graft survival in mongrel dogs. METHODS: Eighteen adult mongrel dogs were used for the study of total pancreatectomy and islet autotransplantation. The harvested total pancreas was preserved in iced Hank's balanced salt solution (HBSS). The islets were properly isolated by a modified Recordi method. RESULTS: The median volume of the transplanted pancreatic islet tissue was 2.1 mL (range 0.7 to 5.0) and purity was 63% (range 10 to 95). Twelve dogs from the experimental group having undergone successful autografting of islets were followed for a minimum of 6 weeks. Three of the 12 dogs maintained insulin secretory function for 6 weeks and the other 7 dogs showed normal Kg values for 6 months following islet transplantation. In the remaining 2 cases, islet graft function was sustained for 1 year. The median required insulin dosage for maintenance of normal FPG was 0.7 U/kg per day (range 0 to 1.6). The insulin requirement correlated well with the IEq/ kg level (r=.90, P6,000 IEq/kg had a better chance of being insulin-independent. CONCLUSION: In this study, we confirmed that autotransplantation of islet cells on pancreatectomized dogs can render nearly normoglycemia, and islet transplantation dogs can be used as a model for the assessment of insulin secretory function.